The Games
by Love-el-ly Joy
Summary: One of many of my versions of how Buffy discovers that Spike is alive... I figured, hey, I haven't had Robin screw anything up for awhile, now it's his time to SHINE and ruin someone's life. xD. Includes Dawn mocking R.J. and teen angst... fun. xD
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: As with my other stories, I had the general idea of what I wanted to do beforehand but I needed some ordinary occurrence to write the part that combines the supernatural portion of Buffy's life with the part that is normal Buffy-the-big-sister part. It takes place some time in early Angel Season Five and when I imagine Season Eight would be going on. I don't know; I don't read the comics except for the Dust Waltz series. I hope you enjoy. If you don't… sucks for you, because it's a totally amazing story and you should appreciate the literary value._

_The Games: Chapter One_

"I can't believe Robin hired you back," Dawn said as she and Buffy filed into the bleachers.

"I know. It's so weird after everything that happened, you kn - oh, R.J.'s about to hit!" Buffy replied.

Dawn slapped her arm playfully. "Shut up. You went farther than I did to impress him."

"You tried to kill yourself."

"So what? Oh my God, he hit a triple! Go R.J.!" Dawn yelled. _She should be a cheerleader, _Buffy thought.

"I thought R.J. played football, anyway." Buffy said.

"He does, but he also plays basketball in the winter and baseball in the spring."

"Sounds like you like him."

"Sounds like I _did_. Besides, he liked you. I'm not sure I could like anyone with judgment that poor."

"You liked Xander."

"He realized the error of his ways before I existed. And he liked Anya. Major turnoff."

They both laughed. It was nice to be sisters and not partners-in-war again. Buffy missed teasing Dawn about boys and having her laugh about it instead of storming off in disgust. Someone in the row in front of them turned around.

"Dawn, you like _R.J_.? Wow." the girl said with a smirk. "That's gutsy, admitting it. He's pretty much a loser now."

"Not anymore - he scored a run!" Dawn replied. Buffy pretended to swoon. "Buffy, quit it. You're embarrassing me." She wasn't serious, though, and Buffy could tell. She stopped anyway.

"Oh, Miss Summers - can I come see you on Monday?" the girl asked.

"Actually, you can't. I won't be in until Tuesday, …" Buffy waited for her to provide a name.

"Rebecca. Rebecca Alexandra Kefflan. You can pull my file if you'd like. All it's going to say is that they called social services on my parents because I wore a Dr. Who bowtie and Twilight Zone shirt every day for a year even though I only saw one episode of The Twilight Zone and eventually the shirt started to smell and my mom didn't have time to wash it ever and my dad was always at the bar and I couldn't walk to a Laundromat because we lived in rural South Dakota and the closest big town was thirty-eight miles away and -"

Alexandra suddenly turned around huffily in her seat and faced the baseball game again. Buffy wondered what she'd done wrong. She turned to Dawn for an explanation.

"Buffy, you never trail off like that when you're talking to a high schooler. They'll tell you their name when they feel like it." Dawn explained with an eye roll.

Rebecca turned around again. "That wasn't the problem. I just can't wait until Tuesday. It's _important_."

"Well, what's the problem?" Buffy asked tiredly. She now knew why Joyce often used to describe her as melodramatic.

Rebecca looked utterly flabbergasted. "We can't talk about it here! There are too many people!"

"Buffy."

"Oh, Ro - Principal Wood. Hey, what's up?" Buffy asked. She didn't care if the kids called her Miss Summers or Buffy, but she knew that Robin didn't like to be called that around the students.

"Would you mind coming with me? Something's come up," Robin said.

"Sure. Dawn, I'll be back in a few minutes." Buffy grabbed the leather jacket that Angel had given her so many years ago. It had been sitting in the back of the closet for the past five years because it was too painful for her to look at it and remember how happy they were together, but since she realized how much she loved Spike, she could appreciate the memories that she shared with Angel but still retain the knowledge and understanding that they could never be together. Now she wore the jacket because it was a part of her history; part of what had shaped who she was. Angel was a part of her, and that jacket was a key part of that history that they had together. The jacket was a part of her, with its creases and indents from being worn so much while fighting demons, vampires, and other Hellmouth-y type creatures from the black lagoon; a part that made her the person that she used to be.

When Buffy and Robin entered his office, she automatically shut the door behind them.

"Buffy, something's come up."

"You said that already," Buffy pointed out.

"Because it's the truth. Buffy - Spike's alive."

"Wha - ? No. What - Robin, what are you saying? I mean, God - what?" Buffy stuttered.

"Spike's alive. The shaman that we had searching the school sensed his presence elsewhere. I couldn't get a location but I did get a phone number." Robin lifted a slip of paper off of his desk.

Buffy took it and glanced at it. "This - there's no way - this is Angel's new work number." she grabbed her cell phone and pressed speed dial 1.

"Angel's office, this is the big CEO-man himself speaking," an English-accented voice answered. Buffy knew without question that the voice belonged to someone with slicked-back platinum blond hair. He was wearing a long black leather jacket that, by inheritance, belonged to the man she stood next to. The voice had called her 'love' a million times, had told Dawn stories about life and comforted her and helped her when Buffy couldn't. He had a good heart even without a soul and would never hurt her, even without the soul and chip.

"Spike is alive."


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Just so you know, I was writing these at a baseball game, which is what inspired my "real life event". I wrote three and a half chapters in my notebook, so now I'm just typing them up and editing them a bit. That's all you really need to know for this chapter, other than the fact that it's shorter than the last one. I end things on breaking points, not paragraph numbers._

_The Games: Chapter Two_

"Dawny, it's me. I-I need to go home. You can get a ride, right?" Buffy said into her cell phone as she pushed open the main door to the school.

"Yeah, I guess, or I could walk."

"Dawn. You. Are. _Not_. Walking home alone at night. If you have to, call Willow or Xander and have them come get you after the game, okay?"

"Wait, why can't you come get me?" Dawn inquired.

Buffy hesitated, deliberating whether she should tell Dawn or not. She decided on a half-truth. "When I say I'm going home, I mean _home_. As in L.A. I should be back in a few days, tops. Hey, the bus is here - I have to go. Bye, Dawny."

"Bye, Buffy."

Buffy hung up the phone. There was a bus stop two blocks from the school and she'd been running, so thankfully she made the bus on time.

The ride was long.

It was two hours from Sunnydale to Los Angeles, three if there was an accident. Luckily, the ride passed without incident, but it was still ridiculously slow. Buffy had brought a pad of paper and an incident response worksheet that needed to be completed and turned in to the school board office by Thursday, but that only took about ten minutes.

_A child reports that there are drugs in his/her house._

_Notify poison control, social services, and the police. Get therapy sessions scheduled for child._

was Buffy's favorite response to a question.

On the paper, Buffy organized her thoughts and did some planning.

_Storm in_

_Demand to see Angel immediately - tell receptionist to announce that someone's there but not to say who it is_

_Talk calmly with Angel_

_Possibly catch up with Wesley; Willow says he's cool now (yeah, right)_

_TOPICS FOR DICUSSION:_

_Why is Spike back?_

_Who else knows?_

_Why at Wolfram and Hart with Angel? Spike and Angel hate each other!_

_While I'm at it, tell Angel that I love Spike just as much or more than I love him._

After that, Buffy texted Giles.

BUFFY: Giles, spike is alive

GILES: Buffy, that isn't possible.

BUFFY: It is; on my way 2 l.a. dont tell dawn if she asks why im there

GILES: I promise, I won't tell Dawn anything.

BUFFY: Just wanted 2 give u a heads up. k, the bus is here in the city, wish me luck!

GILES: Good luck.


End file.
